| Risk | Probability | Severity | Action to prevent |
| Staffing: | |||
| Loss of key personnel | 2 | 4 | Build / shadow expertise across team |
| Organisational | |||
| Availability of stakeholders for testing | 3 | 3 | Effective project planning; offer of incentives; effective communication |
| Technical | |||
| Procurement Process and timely availability of hardware | 2 | 4 | Effective proect planning and agreement with purchasing dept. |
| Dependency on Balsamiq software | 2 | 2 | Build familiarity asap; develop options to proceed without Balsamiq if founf inappropriate. |
| External Suppliers | |||
| Dependency on supplier support | 1 | 2 | Effective communication with Ex Libris |
Thursday, 30 June 2011
Risk Analysis
Project Team
Phil Brabban is Assistant Director (Public Services and Service Development) at Coventry University Lanchester Library. He has led on many projects in the areas of service enhancement and efficiency, most recently managing the implementation of a complete RFID circulation system for the Library. He is currently the Library's lead project member on University level projects to implement Smartcards and cashless trading across the campus. Phil has previously worked at Durham University as Systems Librarian overseeing the management and development of the University's Library Management system, including resource discovery tools.
Theresa Morley is a professionally qualified librarian with several years’ experience supporting Health & Life Sciences courses. As a member of the project group responsible for the implementation of Primo, she carried out the usability study which informed development of the interface as part of JISC project 12/09; she was also responsible for co-ordinating the focus group which informed the design of the home page. She has continued to play a key role in liaising between technical development staff and other stakeholders during the evolution of the product.
Kirsty Kift is a chartered librarian who has several years’ experience as the Engineering Librarian at Coventry University. She has a particular interest in student support and the use of technologies to enhance the student experience. She contributed to an internal usability study which investigated students’ use of the eLibrary and catalogue.
Paul Smith is Library Systems Manager at Coventry University Lanchester Library and has a strong record using our current portfolio of products to deliver scalable solutions to the university’s staff and students. His graphic design background has proved invaluable in previous projects with a focus on the end-user interface.
Juliet Hinrichsen is an Instructional Designer with extensive experience of technology enhanced learning and academic support. She has developed tools and resources for a wide range of learners and has research interests in design for conceptual scaffolding using principles of cognitive ergonomics. She led the successful ELTAC Benefits Realisation (BR) project on lecture capture and has had workpackage leader roles in various JISC projects including ELTAC: Enhancing Lectures Through Automated Capture (Institutional Exemplars); OCEP: Open Content Employability Project (OER); Location Independent Working (institutional innovation); Pathfinder (transition to HE); EnCoRe (DiVLE programme).
Theresa Morley is a professionally qualified librarian with several years’ experience supporting Health & Life Sciences courses. As a member of the project group responsible for the implementation of Primo, she carried out the usability study which informed development of the interface as part of JISC project 12/09; she was also responsible for co-ordinating the focus group which informed the design of the home page. She has continued to play a key role in liaising between technical development staff and other stakeholders during the evolution of the product.
Kirsty Kift is a chartered librarian who has several years’ experience as the Engineering Librarian at Coventry University. She has a particular interest in student support and the use of technologies to enhance the student experience. She contributed to an internal usability study which investigated students’ use of the eLibrary and catalogue.
Paul Smith is Library Systems Manager at Coventry University Lanchester Library and has a strong record using our current portfolio of products to deliver scalable solutions to the university’s staff and students. His graphic design background has proved invaluable in previous projects with a focus on the end-user interface.
Juliet Hinrichsen is an Instructional Designer with extensive experience of technology enhanced learning and academic support. She has developed tools and resources for a wide range of learners and has research interests in design for conceptual scaffolding using principles of cognitive ergonomics. She led the successful ELTAC Benefits Realisation (BR) project on lecture capture and has had workpackage leader roles in various JISC projects including ELTAC: Enhancing Lectures Through Automated Capture (Institutional Exemplars); OCEP: Open Content Employability Project (OER); Location Independent Working (institutional innovation); Pathfinder (transition to HE); EnCoRe (DiVLE programme).
Aims and Objectives: LocateME usability case study
Aims and objectives
Goal: To enhance the Library’s integrated resource discovery environment, locally branded as LOCATE, enabling it to operate effectively across a range of mobile devices. The usability analyses undertaken through this project will provide an evidence informed case study of the development of benefit to the wider community.
To successfully meet this goal, the project has a number of objectives which fall into two broad groups: those relating to product enhancement and those relating to the process of usability testing.
Product Development
i. Assess the usability of the current desktop version of LOCATE as accessed via the selected mobile devices and experienced by different stakeholder groups
ii. Develop a device independent mobile view for LOCATE as informed by the findings of usability testing
iii. Evaluate the use of the new interface to assess whether user experience has improved
Usability
iv. Trial and evaluate approaches to usability testing as applied to mobile devices
v. Provide an evaluative case study to JISC USP focussed on the use and usability of mobile devices
Success Measures
i. A mobile interface is developed for Locate with increased usability over the desktop version when used on a mobile device. This will be measured by comparison of baseline testing with summative testing following rapid development phase.
ii. Case study utilises a range of usability testing methods focussing on practical usage in a rapid development environment. We will report on the appropriateness and relative value of the approaches taken in achieving the end result as development and testing progresses
Our focus in delivering LOCATE to our users is to provide them with an effective service which they are able to use and is ‘usable’ on a variety of devices. By measuring the relative increase in usability from the desktop version to a prototype mobile version, we ensure that the development is customer-driven. Ultimately, the user is the arbiter of our success in this regard. In order to support achievement of this goal, we need to carefully select appropriate usability testing approaches that will maximise the benefits of a user-focussed development.
We will baseline current performance by conducting a ‘cognitive walkthrough’, based on a set of agreed personas, in addition to conducting group testing during the initial phase. Summative testing following development will be used to compare usability of the service post-development and thus provide a measure of success.
The measures outlined focus on the user experience of the site on a mobile device. This will demonstrate effectiveness and value of the development of specific mobile environments and the impact they have on the users.
An alternative approach could have been to carry out a purely persona-based approach to baseline and development phases, however this would have led to the team making ‘assumptions’ based on how we feel users would use the site without supporting evidence from users themselves.
A further alternative would have been to carry out a comparative analysis of features of sites that are considered to have successful mobile environments and indentify common elements where their mobile interface differs from their standard desktop offering. Development could then take place by similarly identifying where like elements in LOCATE could be suitable adjusted or changed. Although there is considerable value in this scoping exercise, it could very quickly become time consuming and superfluous given that richer data can be sought from the user themselves.
Goal: To enhance the Library’s integrated resource discovery environment, locally branded as LOCATE, enabling it to operate effectively across a range of mobile devices. The usability analyses undertaken through this project will provide an evidence informed case study of the development of benefit to the wider community.
To successfully meet this goal, the project has a number of objectives which fall into two broad groups: those relating to product enhancement and those relating to the process of usability testing.
Product Development
i. Assess the usability of the current desktop version of LOCATE as accessed via the selected mobile devices and experienced by different stakeholder groups
ii. Develop a device independent mobile view for LOCATE as informed by the findings of usability testing
iii. Evaluate the use of the new interface to assess whether user experience has improved
Usability
iv. Trial and evaluate approaches to usability testing as applied to mobile devices
v. Provide an evaluative case study to JISC USP focussed on the use and usability of mobile devices
Success Measures
i. A mobile interface is developed for Locate with increased usability over the desktop version when used on a mobile device. This will be measured by comparison of baseline testing with summative testing following rapid development phase.
ii. Case study utilises a range of usability testing methods focussing on practical usage in a rapid development environment. We will report on the appropriateness and relative value of the approaches taken in achieving the end result as development and testing progresses
Our focus in delivering LOCATE to our users is to provide them with an effective service which they are able to use and is ‘usable’ on a variety of devices. By measuring the relative increase in usability from the desktop version to a prototype mobile version, we ensure that the development is customer-driven. Ultimately, the user is the arbiter of our success in this regard. In order to support achievement of this goal, we need to carefully select appropriate usability testing approaches that will maximise the benefits of a user-focussed development.
We will baseline current performance by conducting a ‘cognitive walkthrough’, based on a set of agreed personas, in addition to conducting group testing during the initial phase. Summative testing following development will be used to compare usability of the service post-development and thus provide a measure of success.
The measures outlined focus on the user experience of the site on a mobile device. This will demonstrate effectiveness and value of the development of specific mobile environments and the impact they have on the users.
An alternative approach could have been to carry out a purely persona-based approach to baseline and development phases, however this would have led to the team making ‘assumptions’ based on how we feel users would use the site without supporting evidence from users themselves.
A further alternative would have been to carry out a comparative analysis of features of sites that are considered to have successful mobile environments and indentify common elements where their mobile interface differs from their standard desktop offering. Development could then take place by similarly identifying where like elements in LOCATE could be suitable adjusted or changed. Although there is considerable value in this scoping exercise, it could very quickly become time consuming and superfluous given that richer data can be sought from the user themselves.
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